


The Paint on the Wall

by JustASimpleWriter1



Category: The Dragon Prince (Cartoon)
Genre: Alternate Universe - College/University, Angst, Drama & Romance, Eventual Romance, F/M, Friendship, Hurt/Comfort, Jealousy, Oblivious, Pining, Slow Burn
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2019-03-17
Updated: 2019-03-31
Packaged: 2019-11-21 08:12:24
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 2
Words: 6,190
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/18139664
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/JustASimpleWriter1/pseuds/JustASimpleWriter1
Summary: She couldn’t really tell you where it all went to shit. One moment, she was enjoying her time at Katolis University, with a solid group of friends surrounding her as she cruised through her junior year. The next thing she knew, Callum was selected to do the portraits of dozens of the universities athletes. And then, he started dating someone... someone that wasn't her.





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> That's right, its the college AU.
> 
> I wanted a pining Rayla who has no clue about the truckload of feelings that was about to hit her-  
> So when I thought of this concept, I looked at the two and said: 'well, now these will go together just swimmingly!'
> 
> *Small note*: these characters (the students) are above the ages of 21, or in that general age range in this story.

**Chapter 1: Coming back to KU**

* * *

 

Saturday

March 16th

Post-spring break

* * *

 

 

Rayla bobbed on her feet in the tumbling train car, still somewhat empty, even in the late afternoon. Katolis City was a large city, but KU lay on the peripheries of the sweeping skyscrapers and the large domed building of the country’s capital. The rush hour of businessmen and city-goers alike usually never travelled this far into the country, and the weekend was early enough that she beat the usual college crowd, lugging suitcases from their week-long breaks.

 

The train system, having been completed well more than thirty years ago, made the ride a rather bumpy one, but Rayla found easy footing in the careening tube of death, able to dance her way around the poles and handrails. The easy fluid motions of twelve years in gymnastics kicked in, as she revelled in the ability to just relax in the empty space, secluded to her own thoughts.

 

Life was… dare she say it… good. Spring break at her hometown in Lunaris was dull of the recent memories of running a gymnastic camp for children, who Rayla had absolutely _adored_. Her midterms in her natural sciences and chemistry classes had gone with little to no hitches (minus the B+ she had received under Professor Viren). Gymnastics club had ironed out all the usual college drama, and the team was organizing a couple of parties down the next couple of weeks… and best of all, Callum was already back on campus waiting for her to hang out tonight.

 

There was very little to mope about if she could even do so at all!

 

She was fortunate enough to have met a variety of people in the first year of college. From the chaos of new classes, niches, and faces, Rayla had ironed out a solid friend group: Amaya and Gren, both nauseatingly close social work majors. Soren, the thick in the head soccer player that was actually really sweet. Claudia, a mad scientist, who was also Soren’s sister, in some weird diversity of genetics that she couldn’t explain… and most of all: Callum, who was the art major that really could probably get a better job than the rest of them combined, in some strange reversal of fortunes.

 

Callum was the first person she had met at Katolis University.  She had visited the campus in the summer, before finalizing her applications in the beautiful stone masonry of the universities’ buildings. KU drove its applicants to the extreme, with rigorous essays and writing submissions being imbedded in every step of the application process. The castle-like buildings and expansive green spaces that dotted campus made life in college feel like a fairy tale, with hammocking students, impromptu frisbee games, and a smattering of other outdoorsy activities making the grueling labs worth in when she saw the sun.

 

She had met Callum when he was first drawing beneath one of the many ‘Hammock’ trees, sheltered from the sweltering August heat of their freshman year. She remembered the moments because she was hot, sweaty from the antiquated air-conditioning of her introduction to biology and because Callum had set up a painting canvas tripod that overlooked a pick me up game of frisbee with the woman’s KU frisbee team in the lawn, wearing only sports bras and booty shorts.

 

In hindsight, she should’ve recognized the absolute difficulty of capturing that image on a painted canvas, but she had been a bull-headed freshman at the time, and immediately stalked up to the short boy, and with discarded knapsack and sunglasses with fury on her mind.

* * *

 

 

_“What the hell are you doing!? Are you seriously painting those girls? What is your problem?!” Rayla yelled, shoving the boy’s shoulder with a particularly hard palm, as her insides coiled at the thought of someone creeping on **her** in a similar fashion. _

_The boy, having hardly noticed her approach, was thrown back into the trunk of the tree, with his exclamation of indignation being cut off as his shoulder hit the hard bark of the oak tree. He had slightly long brown hair, that hid his eyes for the moment; but she did catch splattered paint colors across the boy’s cheeks, along with a paintbrush tucked behind one of his red ears._

_“What are you- OW!” The impact rustled the trees large spanning branches, sending a myriad of different green colored leaves to spiral to the grassy floor, the beating sun catching their tumbling sides. Rayla barely registered the sound of a large bird flapping its wings and the ‘scree!’ as she whirled back towards the boy and his ‘drawing.’_

_“Do you have any…” Rayla’s rant shuddered to a halt as she looked at the boy’s drawing for the first time. It was the half-finished picture of the sunny skies, with a stretching tree branch jutting across the pale blue and white background. The sun’s reflected light even caught the leaves, as the sketched lines of a hawk were in place in the direct center of the portrait, just mere bones of the animal._

_…decency.” Rayla’s mind slammed down, as she hurriedly wiped some of her blonde hairs from in front of her face. An overwhelming sensation of dread pooled in her stomach. ‘What had she just done?’_

_As if to reinforce the point, Rayla heard the angry screech of the hawk once more, flying overhead, annoyed at being forced from its perch. Rayla wanted to just melt into the ground, as the frisbee team also noticed the disturbance, and some of the girls were jogging over to the shady section that the tree provided._

_Rayla could feel the ashamed blush that was burning on her face, as her eyes met the boy’s for the first time. He too was firing up in a blush, as his eyes snapped over to the women’s team that was beginning to crowd around them._

* * *

 

The occasion had mortified Callum for weeks, and Rayla still cringed at the memory of it all. Yet, it had led to their great friendship, and she privately thought that was worth the hours of embarrassed apologies and repeated attempts to make it up to the traumatized boy. To this day, the women’s frisbee team still invited Callum and herself to their house parties, largely in part to the beautiful drawing of the hawk perched on that tree branch that hung above the team’s household fireplace. He still couldn’t look at any of them without blushing instantaneously though.

 

That thought was accompanied by a slight twinge of an unknown emotion. She loved Callum. The boy was hilarious, talented, and the closest friend she had ever had. But the boy couldn’t really talk to girls. He had the looks to do so, as he was attractive in the lean, slim-fingered, nerdy sort of way, and would have no trouble at all in finding a girl to swoon over his cooking or his dark brown eyes. Rayla settled back into the train car, her legs nice and loose from her impromptu floor routine. She had recognized that her dream of competing at the Olympic level in gymnastics was never going to happen recently. She thought of herself pretty well, but she was too old now, with other girls far younger and more flexible eager to take over for her aspirations. Yet, she was also excited for the prospect of teaching others and immersing herself into her Environmental studies courses. With luck, she would have an internship somewhere in Katolis City over the summer, at one of the many science institutions that the government funded.

 

In the next few stops, the train car rumbled to the KU stop, and the doors slide open, the dim lights of the underground station being the only focal points in the station, other than the odd cleaner who swept through the train platforms in a monotonous routine. The other beauty of KU was that it was the only university in Katolis City that had an underground stop on campus, as opposed to places like Duren and Neolandia Universities, which were forced to use the Ravenline bus system.

 

She quickly strolled over to the payment aisles, and slipped through, scanning her underground card for the low price of three dollars, and lugged her green-blue suitcase to the escalator. She ran into a small group of KU students going down, likely on their way to hit the Breach, a favorite KU bar just two stops down on the underground, but didn’t really pay them much attention. She reached into the folds of her leather jacket and pulled out her earphones. It was a half mile walk to her dorm, North Tower. Despite it being the middle of March, as she neared the top of the escalator, the brisk evening air hit her in full force.

 

She set off at a quick pace, eager to settle back into her dorm.

 

North Tower was a fifteen-floor behemoth of a building with sets of three, four, and five-person suites on each floor, with laundry equipment on each floor’s lobby. Rayla had a nice cozy three-person suite with Amaya, and a chemistry major named Janai. Janai, while being nice and polite, was somewhat of a mystery to Rayla, but she couldn’t complain if the girl did her dishes and kept the common room clean. The dorm opposite to North Tower was the aptly named South Tower, which was a ten-story dormitory for boys. Callum had his own suite there with Soren, Gren, and a nice soccer player named Corvus, who Soren was good friends with. It helped that she was both in the prime real-estate on campus, and so close to Callum and his dormmates.

 

As she walked along the main roadway that cut through campus, she passed by many of the central dining halls and administrative buildings that lay in the heart of the expansive campus. A minibus passed her on the well-lit road, with KU markings, alongside a large map that was embossed onto the sides of the vehicle. For a brief second, she considered taking the easily recognizable shuttle bus that patrolled campus on a regular basis, but with the Towers in eyesight, she shrugged it off and enjoyed the crisp spring evening air. Soon, classes would resume on Monday, and the odd-10,000 or so students would once again walk around the pathways of the university.

 

Of all the features of KU, that was the one irksome part of being here. She had no illusions about herself that she was a naturally secluded person. She didn’t mind the odd crowded house party off campus event, but in her downtime, she liked solitude above everything else. She had many friends, but only a few close friends that she really trusted. She finished her stroll to North Tower, bobbing along to the smooth guitar rifts of Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers until she finally reached the Towers surrounding green areas. There was an unfortunate staircase she had to ascend before she swiped her university I.D. over the scanner, which unlocked the wide double door entrance. It being a Saturday, there was no duty security guard at the service desk in the lobby, and the expansive tables and chairs of the modern lobby were largely empty, save for one lonesome person, tucked away into the world of a research paper. She didn’t pay the girl much attention and quickly called for one of the four elevators. The leftmost lift opened in an instant, and she steadied her backpack and rolling suitcase before slipping inside, punching the 11th floor button with practiced precision.

 

The elevator slowly made the ascent, and Rayla puffed out a sigh, taking her phone out from her pocket. Callum had told her to text her whenever she arrived, and she brought up his contract, which was him doing a silly dance that he had called his ‘jerk-face’ dance, to only be performed when he had accidentally offended his younger brother, Ezran.

 

He also performed it when he was ten shots deep.

 

She smiled and hit the green call button next to his name. Talking was much better than texting. The shorty connection from being within the elevator blared out two rings before Callum picked up.

 

“Hello, Rayla! You have a good flight in from Xadia?” Callum greeted her cheerfully.

 

“No.” Rayla smiled, even as she delivered her standard deadpan response, “There was a baby next to me and it screamed the whole way. I was thankful for the underground’s sweet release of silence.”

 

“Silence. Right.” Callum’s sarcastic response fired right back, “You back in the Tower?”

 

Rayla hummed in agreement as the elevator dinged to her floor, “Just getting to my room now. You wanna come over?” She shuffled down the brown and tan hallway, passing three decorated doors until she reached one that had three names splayed across the upper half, all written in loopy characters: _Rayla, Amaya, and Janai._

 

“Yeah, definitely, gimme like ten minutes. I have some exciting news for you… or… me, rather!” Callum’s sarcastic quipping voice dropped into his sincere puppy-dog like excited rambling.

 

“Can’t wait to hear it. Shoot me a text when you are outside.” Rayla nodded, shouldering her way into her dorm.

 

“Will do.” The line went dead, and Rayla pocketed her phone, giving the dorms common area a glancing once over. They had a small tv with a couch and two chairs nestled into a tiny space, that was overlooked by a sizable kitchen counter. They had a full refrigerator, microwave, oven, and stovetops. However, there was no dishwasher, and a row of plates was aligned on a rack, having been dried over the entire week of break.

 

“Typical, Amaya. Can't even dry the dishes before she goes home,” Rayla muttered before she walked to the left to the first bedroom door where her single was. She swiftly unlocked the door, and threw her backpack and suitcase inside, before swiftly shutting the door. Unpacking would come later. Right now, all she really wanted was a glass of water, and to catch up with her best friend.

 

His text came in a couple of minutes after she had nestled herself into the couch with a glass of water, and a bowl of dried cranberries. She paused the random Netflix nature documentary she had ambiently played in the room and jumped out the door. She bounded over to the elevator, smoothing down her t-shirt and leather jacket, while also absently making sure her braid was in place and her bangs weren’t horrendous.

 

He was her friend, but she was still a girl, a woman even; there was no reason she couldn’t look great for him. The thought put her at ease, and she focused on the happy feeling of just seeing him again, even if only a week had passed.

 

The elevator dinged to the lobby, and there he was.

 

Callum was leaning up against one of the brick pillars outside the front entrance, looking somewhat put together. At least, as much as someone could for likely not leaving the dorm at all for the entire day. He had on some fitting khakis, a ratty brown t-shirt with a Duren Dragons logo, which was partially hidden by his standard, worn blue jacket and signature red scarf.

 

She grinned, and waved, striding over to the door and propping it open.

 

“Hey there stranger,” Rayla laughed, pulling him in for a quick hug, “Gods, you always find an excuse to wear the scarf, don’t you?”

 

“Wha- Really? Two seconds in, and I am already being criticized?” Callum laughed, “I don’t even get to say hello, or how was your break?”

 

“Oh c’mon, you big baby,’ Rayla said mockingly, ruffling his shaggy hair in the process, “I can scourge something up from my dorm that Amaya and Janai didn’t devour, then we can talk about our breaks.”

 

 

Rayla found herself giggling as she listened to Callum describe Ezran’s latest attempts to fool Callum’s parents. She sat opposite of Callum on the loveseat couch, a pillow in her lap, a plate of pizza rolls steaming on the coffee table.

 

“I swear! He’s going to be a senior in high school soon and he’s still sweet talking our neighbor, Mr Myers, into giving him some of his fresh homemade pies. He’ll be a menace in university, I just hope he can survive the system.”

 

“Can you imagine Viren having Ezran as a student? I can’t decide whose will would break first. It might just break both of them.” Rayla snorted, laughing through just the thought of Callum’s bright-eyed brother interacting with her stern, unimaginative biology-chemistry professor. The conversation fell into a comfortable lull, as she relaxed on the old couch, which was a score that she and Amaya had found on a street corner in downtown Katolis City.

 

“Don’t even give me the image.” Callum shook his head ruefully, “I know that Amaya isn’t back yet, but is Janai?”

 

Rayla shrugged, “Nope, she said she’d be on break until early Monday morning. Should be an interesting morning for coffee, the thought of coming back, just to go to class hours later almost gives me a migraine. How about your dorm?”

 

“Just Soren. He got back this morning. I had lunch with him and Claudia at the food court, which was mercifully open. I really need some more groceries.” Callum sighed, “The others will be coming in around midnight, I think. Gren texted me that his car was acting up earlier today, and Soren told me that Corvus is taking the night train.”

 

“Nice,” Rayla leaned back to groove with the music they had been playing softly throughout their conversation when Callum’s earlier words struck her.

 

“Ahhh! Wait, you were excited about something?!” Rayla shot up, eyeing Callum with a questioning gaze.

 

“Wait… what- OH! Right!” Callum stuttered before he coughed a couple of times.

 

“The Campus Administrations Director, Mrs Opeli, contacted me yesterday in regard to a job opening they put out at the beginning of break. I applied because I thought, you know, why not, right? Doesn’t hurt to apply. So I did that and kinda just wung it, and- “

 

“Callum?” Rayla said in amusement, her fake annoyance at her friend’s rambling failing spectacularly. She had missed him, even though her week at the Lunaris children’s gymnastics center was one of the most fulfilling weeks of her life.

 

“Oh… right!” Yes, I applied for a position that Mrs Opeli had put out for an artistic designer for the athletics department, where the new building is going up shortly? And… I got the job!” Callum finished in excitement, his hands waving to and fro in his excitement.

 

“That’s amazing! Wow!” Rayla looked at him with real happiness. She had heard about the new athletics building, being one herself. She was also privy to Callum’s constant worry over not finding work with a major in artistic design and portrait specialities. “What is the project, actually?”

 

“Mrs Opeli sent me the info with the job offer! It’s really exciting! I was chosen out of over a hundred candidates that applied! The job itself is a paid position, with a set lump sum of three thousand dollars. I have to go around and do custom portrait sketches of the presidents of both university athletic clubs and teams, for their portraits to be put on an absolutely huge banner that’s going up in the new building! I swear the whole thing is going to be like one hundred feet long!”

 

Rayla nodded in excitement, as she listened to him explain the job to her, but then…

 

“Wait, hold up. The presidents of clubs? You do know that I am the president of the Gymnastics club here, right?”

 

“That’s the best part!” Callum exclaimed, “I’ll get to get a portrait of you too up there! I mean, I’ve drawn you before! You like my drawings of you, right!”

 

She did, that was true. The beside picture of Callum’s drawing of her striking a high kick pose while on the beams during gymnastic practice was a particular treasure of hers. But for the whole school to see?

 

“I am excited for you, Callum! But for the whole school to see… forever?” Rayla worried about that. She didn’t think she really deserved the honor for a _‘perpetuam memoriam.’_

 

“You don’t like the idea?” Callum grew wary, and his face began to close off, to her dismay.

 

“Oh, of course, I like the idea! It's just that… I’m me. There are much better athletes- gymnasts- to portray up on this banner of yours.” Rayla tucked her errant platinum blonde bangs behind her ears.

 

“Hey, the job says presidents, not the best athletes. You are a president of the club because you have what it takes to be a leader, who is respected by anybody. Plus, if they make you mad, put in a word to me and ill make anyone who disagrees with your inclusion fat on the banner.”

 

Rayla couldn’t help but laugh at the conjured image before she reached over and hugged Callum again.

 

“This job sounds great, Callum, I’m really excited for you!”

 

And really… she was.

 

 


	2. The Interviews Begin

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> She frowned at the image on her phone. ‘Had Callum really needed to trace delicate lines over the girl’s collarbone and neck?’ Of course, her rational side kicked in, as she slowly realized that she had no right to question Callum’s art choices… especially in the female department, because who was she to rebuke him?

Tuesday

March 19th

Spring Semester

 

Chapter 2: The Interviews Begin

 

Rayla found herself nursing a cup of the university dining hall’s espresso on Tuesday, after a brutal return to classes on Monday. The sun was just rising, and she eyed her research paper with distaste, as she sipped the heavenly caffeinated beverage next to her in the deserted dining hall.

 

She was lucky that she had been accustomed to rising with the sun after her decade long gymnastics career, or this paper wouldn’t be done in time for her class at 12 p.m. She struggled through another page or so, somehow not slamming her head into the annoyingly patriotic table, which had the repeated images of knights and towers spread across its surface; both depictions being images of Katolis University.  

 

At last, after a bleary gaze, she finalized the edits on the paper. She recognized that she could curse and groan all she wanted to, but as some point, it wasn’t going to get any better. That was the nature of some collegiate papers. One last hearted glare later, and her Philosophy paper was sent off for the meat grinder.

 

‘Someone kill me now.’ Rayla muttered to herself, leaning back into the stiff dining hall chair. Her mind stiff lay in the quiet forests around Lunaris, where she could rise with the sun and relax, comfortable in the knowledge that the campers needed her, and that she needed them for her own wellbeing. The spring break mindset hadn’t truly worn off. Rather, it was likely to continue long into the semester, until the sentiment blended with the urge for summer break.

 

The one aspect of break that was somewhat new and exciting was Callum’s current project. Her own classes were relatively boring and unsubstantial, but Callum- his project was all the rage. It had turned out that his explanation of the task he had in hand was understated. The school board had organized to purchase two-dozen eight by sixteen banners from a photo company. Only, the banners themselves would be enlarged copies of Callum’s own designs: his portraits.

 

He'd already shown her his first completed one.

 

Callum being Callum, he had done his first one in a day, on a Monday of all days. She had stared at the hurriedly snapped photo that he had sent to her via text for hours it seemed. The beautiful drawing of a beautiful girl, languidly resting a lacrosse stick across her shoulders, stared at her. A myriad of emotions coiled inside her, because holy hell, the girl was beautiful. Like, unfairly so, with a slim face, and wide expression eyes that were kind and steely with resolve. Not even mentioning her considerable bust, which Callum had also drawn with incredible… precision.

 

The whole ordeal only served to make her more anxious. Because who was she going to be next to people like _her._ One of the two dozen chose to be represented by an extremely talented artist, who happened to be her best friend.

 

The tightness in her chest returned, as she reflexively had pulled up the picture of the lacrosse captain again.

 

She frowned at the image on her phone. ‘Had Callum really needed to trace delicate lines over the girl’s collarbone and neck?’ Of course, her rational side kicked in, as she slowly realized that she had no right to question Callum’s art choices… especially in the female department, because who was she to rebuke him?

 

The thought, usually something to easily laugh off, sent her into a flurry of panic as she realized that Callum had spent time with this girl, and of course, would have shown her the drawing. He was unassuming like that. Callum had been hers to bicker with and playfully fight alongside for two years now, and his drawings were especially close to him. But he had never drawn her. Now, this girl got one before her turn had come?

 

“Rayla!”

 

“Ahh!” Rayla stumbled out of her foggy thoughts, before swinging around in her seat at the familiar sound of her name being called.

 

It was Janai and Amaya, both of whom were almost at her table. Amaya gave a little wave as they arrived, while Janai greeted her.

 

“Hello, nice to see you again, Rayla,” Janai said rather monotonously.

 

“Hey girls,” Rayla automatically waved a hand across her body, but she caught Amaya’s slightly shrug at the gesture, signalling that she was there to read lips. “I see you’ve come to offer me some manner of comfort in my trying times.”

 

“I came to get food.” Janai raised her eyebrow, before flicking her hand outwards towards Amaya, clenching her palm once, her thumb sticking out before she strolled off towards the dining area. Lone stragglers were wandering in, as the hour became somewhat more of a reasonable commitment.

 

Rayla watched Janai go for a second before she turned back to Amaya.

 

“You get her to open up any further?”

 

Amaya rolled her eyes before she slipped into the chair opposite her. _What do you think?_ Amaya signed quickly. _I’ll have better luck when she knows more KSL.”_

 

“You seem surprisingly optimistic,” Rayla furled her eyebrows. Amaya, ever the blunt personality, was wearing a tight pair of jeans along with a dark blue windbreaker jacket for the day. Compared to her darker jeans and navy cardigan, she was the more pragmatic of both of them. The usual.

 

_Very funny. Nice photo you are looking at, by the way._

Rayla jumped on her phone, which was currently sitting in the middle of the table.

 

“I- what are you getting at? He sent it to me!” Rayla cursed, glaring at her roommate. Of all of her friends, Amaya was her oldest friend at KU; Freshman year roommates, with no prior communications. Rayla remembered the memory of meeting her like it was yesterday.

 

She had already been set up in the small 10 square foot dorm when Amaya walked in unannounced, a suitcase and bag slung over her broad shoulders…

 

 --------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

 

_Rayla hummed as she pushed her dresser underneath the bed, taking an extraordinary amount of satisfaction when the dresser slid under with millimeters of room to spare. Her own space was decked out fully, with Runaan already having left with Tinker just hours ago. The empty side of the room was the obvious reminder that her roommate was yet to arrive._

_The thought worried her slightly since all she had for her roommate was a name: Amaya. Everything else was an unknown variable. This unknown, combined with the prospect of knowing absolutely no one at Katolis University, had her slightly on edge. So five minutes later, while she was staring at the ceiling of the room, with the soft tones of Sleeping at Last in her head, she didn’t expect to be disturbed._

_Her eyes drift shut, and the next thing she knew, vibrations and shook her out of her impromptu nap.  She found herself sitting up in her bedspread, and was met with the site of a young woman, surrounded by at least ten boxes on the opposite side of the room._

_“Ohh!” Rayla exclaimed, tearing out her earbuds, “Hello!”_

_The girl, who was rather built and extraordinarily tall, gave no indication that she had heard Rayla._

_“Uhh…” Rayla paused, slipping off the raised bed, “Can you hear me? I m Rayla, your roommate… probably?”_

_The girl finally turned, as she opened one of the boxes at her feet, giving Rayla the first glimpse at her face. She had dark brown hair cropped short, just above her eyes, with slanted eyebrows and a faded red scare that came dangerously close to her right eye._

_The girl startled at seeing Rayla, and immediately straightened, looking warily over at her._

_“Sorry! Hello!” Rayla scratched her head, a little bit wary herself. She shook it off though, and bound forwards, nimbly dodging a couple of boxes. “I’m Rayla. Are you Amaya, my roommate?”_

_Rayla looked at the tall girl with a bit of envy. She was at least eight inches taller than her, and had some toned muscles, that stretched the tight red “Del-Bar High” t-shirt she wore._

_Then, it all clicked into place, as the girl paused, her hands coming up in front of her almost reflexively, before she paused and hurriedly put them down, a blush coming over her cheeks. She didn’t speak, and only averted her gaze._

_But Rayla had caught the first hurried motions of the girl’s hands: **“I’m Am-“**_

****

_“Oh!” Rayla exclaimed, laughing to herself, “I am so stupid!” The girl snapped her embarrassed gaze back to Rayla, only to look on in shock as Rayla easily signed a sentence:_

**_“I am Rayla! Do you know KSL? I’m afraid that’s all I can sign.”_ **

****

_The girl, who Rayla knew had to be Amaya, only nodded, a grin alighting her face, **“I know KSL… where did you learn to sign?”**_

****

_Rayla smiled, **“My Childhood friend. I haven’t… signed for years. Doing ok?”**_

**_“Very much so.”_ ** _Amaya beamed at her, and Rayla found herself similarly affected by the taller girl’s excitement._

**_“Right, need some help?”_ ** _Rayla gestured to the boxes behind Amaya. The idea of having Amaya as a roommate wasn’t worrisome anymore, judging by the kind face that the girl had, and how… nice she seemed to be. Being deaf certainly wasn’t a hindrance for Rayla, since she had been meaning to brush up on her KSL anyway._

**_“If you are offering.”_ ** _Amaya signed in response, before she handed Rayla a heavy box that nearly toppled her._

_“Oh geez,” Rayla puffed, looking within the box, seeing dumbbells and other home gym equipment, “Thanks, roomie.”_

_\------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------_

Amaya was also the one friend who had never let up in trying to set her up with Callum.

 

And trust me, she had tried to stop it.

 

“I swear, if you go into another argument about me getting jealous because _I’m not,_ I will personally dump your meat crusted dishes into your room tonight.

_“Keep telling me that. You looked like you wanted to set your phone on fire.”_

“It’s had poor battery life for weeks now!” Rayla hotly responded, “And besides, It’s too early for me to even fully be conscious enough to even have functioning brain capacity.” A cold sweat broke over her because for the first time, she hadn’t fully believed herself.

 

Callum was the closest friend she had. Maybe… just maybe… The thought of- whoever the beautiful lacrosse girl was- hanging out with Callum yesterday still irked her in a way.

 

_“Fine. Don’t say I didn’t warn you when the rest of the project goes underway. You are too thick-headed for your own good.”_

“They won’t all be-“Rayla bit her tongue as the rest of the sentence died in her mind: … _girls.”_

_“That is it. Listen, I know he’s your best friend, but you two are honestly sickening together. My sister and her husband Harrow are second places… and they just had their honeymoon!”_ Amaya frowned.

 

This was familiar ground though, and Rayla shut off that achingly familiar feeling that welled up inside her.

 

“He is a friend,” Rayla said, cross with the world already as she felt the sharp pains in her sinuses, which promised an incoming migraine. “Nothing more.” He couldn’t be anything more. Their friendship was too important. She didn’t even know if she liked him! And what would she do if he didn’t even think of her like that? There was too much to risk, too much to hope for.

 

Besides, Callum had never shown any interest in anyone at KU. No to the admittedly attractive woman’s frisbee team, in the numerous times they’d been there to party, nor to any class flings that students were prone to get into with each passing semester.

 

 _“I won’t press it further… today.”_ Amaya rolled her eyes, pulling out a loose-leaf notebook from her bag, _“I saw Callum at the gym this morning. He’s interviewing the Captain of the swim team next. Elaine?”_

“Elaine?” Rayla replied, her face scrunching up, “I think I know her. She’s in our grade?”

 

But Amaya had already put her nose into her notes, and she was pretty adept at ignoring people when she wished.

\--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 

 

From that morning, Rayla’s day quickly soured. A surprise test came up in her Environmental Science class in the form of a hands-on faunal identification assessment, followed by a midterm in the wretched Philosophy class. What had began as a two-class day, turned into a nightmare of surprise assessments, horrid emails and interview updates for internships, and a general depression of her health.

 

The migraine that had developed skull-splittingly persisted throughout the day, and when she finally stepped into the South Tower, her day almost done, it was a skull splitting pain. All she wanted to do now was to curl up in bed and take some aspirin. The sun hadn’t yet fully dipped into the horizon, a welcome change after the depths of winter, and she trudged up to Callum’s dorm, a review packet in hand.

 

The boy’s Tower didn’t have any security guards until 9 p.m. usually, so she was able to walk right in. As she did so, a guy slipped of the staircase next to the elevator. It was a small mercy. She hurriedly reached the door before it closed, and swiftly climbed the two flights of stairs to the third floor, each step a lancing pain in her forehead. The layout of the building was nearly identical to the North Tower, save for the five extra floors that the girl's dorm had. There were many jokes to be made and had been made, between Rayla, the girls, Callum, and the guys.

 

Since she had been to Callum’s dorm at least a hundred times this year, she didn’t even think about knocking as she walked through the out door of the dorm, which was marked as room 309, with Callum, Soren, Gren, and Corvus’s names stuck on the front. She knocked once, out of curtesy, before she walked right in.

 

Two guys looked up from the central lobby, where they sat on a couch, watching some show on Netflix. Soren and Corvus looked up, each eating a bowl of ramen.

 

“Evenin’” Rayla laughed, her headache subsiding for the moment, “having a good night?”

 

“Oh, hey Rayla,” Soren quickly glanced to Corvus, who hid by hiding in his bottle of water, “you here to see Callum?”

 

“Yeah, just have to drop off the review packet, the guy is clueless, honestly.” She walked down the hallway to the left, where Callum’s door lay on the right, wedged in-between Corvus and Soren’s.

 

“Wait! Rayla, don’t!” Soren’s voice rang out from behind her as she was reaching for the doorknob. But she didn’t hear him, only the muted sounds coming from Callum’s room.

 

_“You are adorable, Callum.”_

_“I think the drawing speaks for itself, Elaine.”_

She froze, her hand trembling, her headache flaring up in time with her heart rate, which rapidly spiked. _She needed to leave. She needed to leave, right now._

She spun on her heel, as her eyes blurred. She slapped it on the kitchen countertop as she rushed out of the dorm, eerie silence following from the dorm’s common room.

 

‘This was fine. It was all fine. She… she was excited for him. She…’ the tears began to fall as she rushed down the staircase, as she realized that things were so far away from being fine. Who had she been lying to for so long? To think, that two days ago, she had been happy. 

Callum's face haunted her thoughts, and she shook her head, almost welcoming the splitting pains as the tears flowed. She ignored several stares and she briskly walked out of the building into the cool spring air. 

No, she was happy for him. She... she just needed time. That was the mantra she repeated to herself, even as she realized that she didn't beleive her own thoughts.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> More to Come!


End file.
